Soldering iron



Patented Jan. 26, 1937 I 2,068,728

UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE soLDEmNG IRON wiuiam Amos, Detroit, Mich.

Application August 9, 1935, Serial No. 35,511 s claims. (ci. 11a- 109)My invention relates to soldering irons, and its the same and tomaintain the solder 8 in a .conprincipal object is to provide meanswhereby a stantly liquid condition, while an opening 9 havcontinuoussupply of molten solder is available at ing a closure plug Il) serves toretain the molten all times at the point of the soldering iron or metalwithin the reservoir. Within the forward 5 bit, WithOllt the necessityOf applying SOldeI 60 end of the reservoir, and proximate to the `bit I,5

the same from time to time as is the case with is a conical valve IIhaving a stem I2 which exsoldering irons of ordinary construction. tendsrearwardly through an opening I3 in the I am aware that electricsoldering irons have reservoir and is provided with a collar I4 securedbeen hitherto constructed in which are provided thereupon. The collar I4has trunnions I5 which l a reservoir for melted solder and also built-inare connected by links I6, the rear ends of 10 means -for heating thesolder to the required which engage a pivot pin II upon the lever I8.temperature, but such soldering irons are of ne- The lever I8,oscillably mounted upon a pin I9 cessity complicated in construction andexpensive supported in lugs 20 attached to or formed into manufacture.tegral with the ferrule 2| of the handle 4, has

l According to my present invention I have proa thumb lever 22, andbeneath the lever is a heli- 15 vided a simple and cheap device whichcan cal compression spring 23, positioned within a quickly and easily beapplied to any ordinary solcavity 24 in the handle, the arrangementbedering iron, eitherelectric or otherwise, so that ing such thatpressure of the thumb of the opall the advantages of the more elaboratedevices erator upon the lever 22 will cause the valve II are obtainedwith a minimum expense. to be removed from its seat and allow molten 20In order that the nature of my invention may solder to flow outwardsinto the space 25 and be readily understood, I will now describe aprethence through a narrow space 26 between the ferred embodiment of thesame with reference extension 2'I upon the reservoir and the upper tothe accompanying drawing, in which surface of the bit I, whereby therequired amount 25 Figure 1 is a side elevation showing my inof soldermay be fed to the working end of the 25 vention as applied to anelectric soldering iron of bit. Upon release of the lever 22 the valveII is conventional type. closed by the action of the spring 23 so as toFigure2 is a central vertical section of the same shut oil the supply ofsolder, as will be underdrawn to an enlarged scale, showing theessential stood. v

30 features of my invention. Referring now to Figures '7, 8 and 9 of the30 Figure 3 is an end view of the same. drawing which illustrate theapplication of my Figure 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Figure 2.invention to a common soldering iron, I is the Figure 5 is a section online 5 5 of Figure 2. bit of square cross section having a chisel edgeFigure 6 is a section on line 6 6 of Figure 2. IUI, the bit in this casebeing connected by the Figure 'l is a side elevation showing myinvenround rod 28 to any type of handle, not shown. 35 tion as appliedto a soldering iron of the external- In this construction the reservoir6, provided with ly heated type. the closure member III, is secured tothe bit I Figure 8 is a section on line 8 8 of Figure '1, by one pair ofresilient clips 'I, and has at its forand ward end an'extension 21similar to that above 40 Figure 9 is a section on line 9 9 of Figure 7.described with referenec to Figures 1 to 6. The 40 Like charactersdesignate corresponding parts reservoir 6 is provided with a valve andoperthroughout the several views. ating mechanism for the same ofsimilar con- I is the bit, or soldering iron proper, provided structionto that above described, the only dil.'- with the body 2 containing theelectric heatference being that in this modification the heat ingelement, and 3 is the stem, of hollow construc-- applied to the bit I,derived from a gas burner 45 tion containing the electric conductorswhich or other well known means, is at the same time pass through thehandle 4 and are connected by transmitted to the reservoir 6 so as tomelt the the usual ilexible cable 5 to a source of electric soldercontained therein which is applied to the current, in the manner wellknown in the art. working point of the iron in the same man. 6 is ahollow chamber or reservoir, made of ner as that hitherto explained. 50aluminum or other metal or alloy to which molten It will be observedfrom the foregoing descripsolder will not adhere, and l, 'I areresilient clips tion and by reference to the drawing that I by which thereservoir is secured to the body 2. have provided a device which iseconomical to The reservoir B is so formed as to fit closely manufactureand which maybeeasily and quickly around the body 2 so as to absorb heatfrom applied to any commercial soldering iron either 55 of the electricor externally heated type, and while I have herein described andillustrated a preferred embodiment of my said invention, it will bereadily understood that the same may be modiiied in various ways to meetany particular or peculiar requirement, without departing from thespirit of my invention as defined in the appended claims. For example,while my invention is primarily designed for use with metallic solder,it may obviously be used in connection with other fastening mediums orcements which require heat for their proper application. In such casesthe reservoir may be constructed of material other than those abovespecified.

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is: l

1. A solder reservoir adapted to be secured to a soldering iron outsideof itsperiphery and having its adjacent surface in contact with saidperiphery in such manner as to receive heat therefrom, said reservoirhaving a discharge opening adjacent the point of said iron and having anintegral apron adapted to over-lie said point and arranged in spacedrelation therewith to provide a narrow orifice therebetween throughwhich molten metal issuing from said orifice is directed upon thework-piece.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination, with asolder reservoir adapted to be secured to a soldering iron outside ofits periphery and having its adjacent surface in contact with saidperiphery in such manner as to receive heat therefrom, of an auxiliarychamber adjacent the point of said iron, an opening connccting saidreservoir and said chamber, and an apron integral with said reservoiradapted to overlie said point and arranged in spaced relation therewithto provide a narrow orifice through which molten metal issuing from saidchamber is directed upon the work-piece.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination, with asolder reservoir adapted to be secured to a soldering iron outside ofits periphery and having its adjacent surface in contact with saidperiphery in such manner as to receive heat therefrom, of an auxiliarychamber adjacent theA point of said iron, a valve-controlled openingconnecting said reservoir and said chamber, and an apron integral withsaid reservoir adapted to over-lie said point and arranged in closelyspaced relation therewith to provide a narrow orifice therebetweenthrough which molten metal issuing from said chamber is conducted bycapillary means to the work-piece.

4. A solder reservoir adapted to be secured to the cylindrical body of asoldering iron outside of its periphery and having its adjacent surfaceof hollow arcuate form so'as to make contact with said peripherythroughout a considerable portion of its surface in such manner as toreceive heat therefrom, said reservoir having a discharge openingadjacent the point f said iron.

5. A solder reservoir adapted to be secured to the cylindrical body of asoldering iron outside of its periphery and having its adjacent surfaceof hollow arcuate form so as to make contact with said peripherythroughout a considerable portion of its surface in such manner as toreceive heat therefrom, said reservoir having a discharge openingadjacent the point o1' said iron and having an integral apron adapted toover-lie said point andarranged in spaced relation therewith to providea narrow orifice therebetween through which molten metal issuing fromsaid orifice is directed upon the work-piece.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination, with asolder reservoir of the kind described in claim 4, of a pair ofresilient clips secured to said reservoir and having their ends bent inarcuate form and arranged in spaced relation whereby said reservoir maybe yieldingly held in contact with the iron.

WILLIAM AMOS.

